FAN Movie Review: Shah Rukh Khan shines in double role, but his best is yet to come!

FAN will drag in the first half, but it’s in the second half that the thrills come. The climax is a lesson in itself for fans!

Updated: April 15, 2016 4:01 PM IST

By Shweta Parande

FAN Movie Review: Shah Rukh Khan shines in double role, but his best is yet to come!

Shah Rukh Khan‘s movie FAN that released on Friday, April 15,  will arouse mixed emotions from his real fans. They see a reflection of themselves in his fan Gaurav Chandna. But they object to being called obsessive. Moreover, SRK has a message for some of his fans who might be on the verge of such dangerous obsession. Let’s take a look at what FAN is all about.

The story of FAN was revealed in the trailer itself, of Gaurav Chandna (Shah Rukh Khan), a cute, young fan of superstar Aryan Khanna (Shah Rukh Khan) whose fandom turns into dangerous obsession when he is wronged by the very superstar he loved and dreamt about day and night. This tale plays out well on screen, with twists and turns enough to keep you interested. The face-off scenes between Gaurav and Aryan are very cool as well.

But a day before the release of FAN in India, we read some tweets saying that only the first half of FAN is good. Well, we think there’s a serious issue with how people watch movies then, because it is the second half of FAN that is gripping, not the first! When the clash between the fan and the superstar takes centrestage and has a good climax, that’s the good second half for you. The first half of FAN is for teeny-weeny fanatics who want to see themselves in Gaurav. (Young fans also missed the Jabra Fan Song that did not play out at all!)

Direction and Editing

Having said that, FAN, directed by Maneesh Sharma and edited by the talented Namrata Rao, fails to grip you with its pace. There are moments when you can look into your phone, or yawn. It seems like Maneesh, Namrata, writer Habib Faisal and producers Yash Raj Films have let Shah Rukh Khan down by not having a crisper movie in FAN.

But now for the big question – Is FAN Shah Rukh Khan’s best and biggest movie till date?

Well, it’s not! It’s good, very good, but we have seen better stuff from the man, like Chak De! India. FAN will go down as one of SRK’s best performances, but it is certainly not his ‘bestest’. Although his fans are going gaga over SRK’s portrayal of Gaurav Chandna, with the help of awesome prosthetics by Greg Cannom, there is definitely more to come from Shah Rukh Khan, the actor. But of course, we liked his different take on obsession than his earlier characters in DarrBaazigar and Anjaam. His hard work on his double role in FAN, his language, diction, body language – is all perfect. But that was expected, wasn’t it?

There is no denying that Shah Rukh Khan is the boss where acting is concerned. As he ages, we’re sure he’ll reinvent himself, just like our legend Amitabh Bachchan has done, or Rishi Kapoor, who continue to shine in any role they do and also challenge themselves. So, we wouldn’t call FAN as SRK’s biggest movie. We are craving for more from you, SRK!

Among the ladies, Waluscha De Sousa plays Aryan Khanna’s wife and she has not much to do but has a good screen presence with the Khan. Sachin Pilgaonkar’s daughter Shriya Pilgaonkar as Neha, the fan’s ‘one-sided’ girlfriend is impressive. (ALSO READ: Shah Rukh Khan’s heroine Waluscha De Sousa: 5 things to know about the FAN hottie)

FAN Box Office Collections on First Day – NOT Houseful!

However, surprisingly, the first day first show of FAN that we saw at the Inox multiplex to gauge first-hand reactions was NOT houseful! We decided to watch it at the theatre instead of the press show, so, at 9 am the theatre was crowded all right, but in our screen, there were still a few seats empty. That’s not good for Shah Rukh Khan!

A guy on Twitter tweeted about a similar situation in Inox Rajarhat. Read what he said, and scroll further for our Verdict and Rating:

Verdict: FAN will drag in the first half, but it’s in the second half that the thrills come. The climax is a lesson in itself for fans! Bravo, one would say to the superstar Aryan Khanna to his last act. It’s a good one-time watch for people who are not SRK fans, but, well, for the die-hard fans – this is their movie! And that is where Shah Rukh Khan wins – he has played on the delicate emotions of his fans, as they break into tears while watching the antics of Gaurav Chandna on screen for his fave superstar.

Rating: We are struggling for this one, as we think Shah Rukh Khan performed to the best of his abilities but was let down by the editing. We’ll go with 3 stars out of 5 for FAN! (ALSO READ: FAN tweet movie review: Shah Rukh Khan is BRILLIANT, say real die-hard fans of SRK)

Do let us know how you liked Shah Rukh Khan’s FAN(ALSO READ: FAN release: Will social campaign by ‘intolerant bhakts’ affect box office collections of Shah Rukh Khan’s FAN?)

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